Tired of being referred.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by beka on -
Dystonia is never diagnosed on EMG results. It always is diagnosed based on the puzzles the patient brings to the office- videotaping, doctors beforehand knowledge of dystonia, clinical signs and symptoms as other disorders are ruled out...
It's all based on what the doctor sees clinically backed up by their movement disorder experiences from the past. A good doctor will pick up on dystonia right away. They either see it or they don't..
beka
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Permalink Reply by Robin Wood on -
A good doctor will pick up on dystonia right away. They either see it or they don't..
I totally agree with this Beka and trust me it shows in their demeanor toward you as a patient. And the ones that don't see it, even after you've told them that you have it and have had it for years will try and take the physcogentic and/or being on street drugs therory above all else.
Robin
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Permalink Reply by Monica Coogan on -
you are absolutely correct. my husband has gone diagnosed for 4 years. i KNOW that the 30+ medication cocktails they put him on did it. i just put a presentation together for his new neurologist, we will see him next week. let me know if you would like to see it. he has dealt with the mistakes of unknowledgeable doctors for too long. you are welcome to e-mail me. languagelover18@aol.com
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Permalink Reply by BDrake on -
I had two EMG's done in the beginning and I was told all was normal. I know during the last one I kept being told to "relax" my arm...and I kept saying....that's just it I CAN"T! But it was still another 4 monts and a specialist at a tertiary care center before dystonia was diagnosed...and that was without an EMG.
It was however used to inject my botox. I could plainly hear static going like crazy when she stuck the needle into the right spot.
~becky
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Permalink Reply by Robin Wood on
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I had an EMG done on my forearm way back before I started to progress, the static and what not was off the charts. My neuro had never seen anything like it. She told me "hold on" and went out to the front office and had the girls turn off the radio that was piped into the examing office, still the static was off the charts. She turned off all the lights but still nothing changed. She shut off a couple of things thinking they may of been causing some sort of interferrance either with the machine or with my sensory stimuli and still the firing was off the charts.
If ever I actually make it to have all my dystonic muscles EMG'd I'd be really curious to see if the same results hold true.
Robin
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Permalink Reply by Rosemary on -
Not for initial diagnosis, but my impression is that it can help confirm. They also use it to distinguish disc compression/nerve issues (caused by D) from D only- at least for me.
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Permalink Reply by beka on
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True, Rosemary - EMG helps in the confirmation of the diagnosis , but all the books I have read say that dystonia is based on clinical exam, primarily seeing and knowing what you have got...by the doc , of course !! But , then there is a huge lack of teaching of dystonia in medical schools.. they skip right over it in lectures...
beka
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Permalink Reply by Rosemary on
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To some extent that is why I am wondering when the EMG was introduced to aid/supplement diagnosis. It is such a simple procedure that it might help docs w/out enough background to know when to refer people. Just an idea
Yes (speaking to the choir here), if my situation is like many others, too few GPs and other types have the experience/knowledge to refer people to a MDS so they can get a diagnosis. It is only because my symptoms did not improve after spine surgery (even before it failed) that the Physiatrist rethought things, did an EMG, and I found an MDS too confirm G. Dystonia. Ironically, I have several risk factors (head trauma, family history, gender), and all sorts of stuff that should have been a heads up both to the Physiatrist and lousy HMO I was with before him.
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Permalink Reply by Rosemary on
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All I know is that my doc (Physical Medicine) used it before making my diagnosis (moderate to severe Generalized, including OMD). Subsequently, I went to a MDS who observed me closely for a while, glanced at the EMG results and agreed, noting that I have an "atypical manifestation." I think this "atypical" is what delayed my diagnosis for so long. I would say that I had it +/- 15 years before diagnosis but everyone kept attributing it to other things, and I just kept adjusting my life (career, r'ship, & exercise choices) to cope/compensate.
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Permalink Reply by Karen B on -
Hi BDrake,
Its my daughter Kelby who has now been diagnosed by 2 neurologists(Toronto, and London) with conversion disorder. We had a meeting with a 3rd. Doctor(Metabolic doctor) who is not in the Team's of doctors that we have been dealing with and he also told us last week that he felt it was a Conversion and concured with the previous 2 neuros--What to do from here?--we are going to the states with her in Feb for another opinion--we also feel we need to pursue the Conversion diagnosis(I am not convinced), but will try anything to help her. We have been told that this is "Medically unknown symtoms", and that we could search for years to find an answer--We would prefer to throw our hands up in the air and tell all of the Doctors they are nuts...but we don't want to harm Kelby anymore and will try anything to be pro-active in combatting this issue. We have an appointment set up with a Phsyologist, I have to speak with her Physiotherapists and have them take a more agressive route with her and try to forse her to move this foot-They are telling us that all of the medical tests have been done on her and everything is prestine perfect--I beleive in my heart this is why they have concluded Conversion.My hope is that we can re-train her brain to make that foot work it sure would be better than putting her thru DBS, and not having that work either....Who would have thought that in this day and age this could be so complicating!!!!
I will go along with this so my husband and I can be rest assured that we did try everything before we go back to the Dystonia Diagnosis. I wish you luck with your search for a doctor..and hope that 2009 brings lots of answers for many of us on this blog.
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Permalink Reply by beka on
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Why not tell these doctors that most tests for dystonia come back negative - perfectly fine. See my answer above...
To assume that this is a conversion disorder... well I would fight ... Have you gone toMichigan across the border to see Paul Cullis... ? Bet that he will pick up on dystonia right away...
beka
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Permalink Reply by beka on
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Electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the activation signal of muscles. EMG is performed using an instrument called an electromyograph, to produce a record called an electromyogram. An electromyograph detects the electrical potential generated by muscle cells when these cells contract, and also when the cells are at rest.
Beka
I have just created a post on EMG Info !!
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